McLaren on top after wet second practice
Webber took third behind the McLarens with a late effort on a drying track
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button headed the times after today’s second practice session in Melbourne.
The pair set their times in between the two rain showers which fell at the track early in the session.
The track dried sufficiently so that some drivers could improve their times in the closing minutes. They included Mark Webber, who managed the third-best time using hard tyres, and Michael Schumacher, who took fourth.
Despite missing the first session while Paul di Resta was in the car, Adrian Sutil managed seventh-fastest for Force India, one thousandth of a second faster than Vitantonio Liuzzi.
It was a tough session for HRT who failed to get Bruno Senna’s car on track and saw Karun Chandhok’s grid to a halt within metres of the pit exit on his first lap.
Lucas di Grassi was also unable to complete a lap for Virgin.
| Position | # | Driver | Car | Best lap | Laps | |
| 1 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’25.801 | 13 | |
| 2 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’26.076 | 0.275 | 16 |
| 3 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’26.248 | 0.447 | 22 |
| 4 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’26.511 | 0.71 | 16 |
| 5 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’26.732 | 0.931 | 26 |
| 6 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’26.832 | 1.031 | 29 |
| 7 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’26.834 | 1.033 | 22 |
| 8 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’26.835 | 1.034 | 17 |
| 9 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’26.904 | 1.103 | 25 |
| 10 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’26.956 | 1.155 | 22 |
| 11 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’27.108 | 1.307 | 28 |
| 12 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’27.108 | 1.307 | 25 |
| 13 | 23 | Kamui Kobyashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’27.455 | 1.654 | 23 |
| 14 | 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’27.545 | 1.744 | 25 |
| 15 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’29.025 | 3.224 | 20 |
| 16 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’29.134 | 3.333 | 19 |
| 17 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’29.591 | 3.79 | 21 |
| 18 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’29.860 | 4.059 | 15 |
| 19 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’30.510 | 4.709 | 43 |
| 20 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’30.695 | 4.894 | 17 |
| 21 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’32.117 | 6.316 | 9 |
| 22 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 2 | ||
| 23 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | HRT-Cosworth | 1 | ||
| 24 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth |
VXR said on 26th March 2010, 10:52
Interestingly, Hamilton set his fastest lap on the softer tyre, whereas Button set his on the hard tyre.
I don’t think that there is much between the tyres here. Maybe some will use the hard tyre in qualifying?
Also, I posted elsewhere that the FIA and FOTA have been talking about spicing up the ’show’. Charlie Whiting suggesting that only the two extremes of tyre (super soft and hard) be used for each GP. Also talk of rev limiting to 17,000 rpm and setting a fixed amount of time for drivers to use 18,000 rpm. McLaren also suggested success ballast to be used during qualifying only!
P.S. originally posted in P1 thread. oops! :)
sw6569 said on 26th March 2010, 10:58
Sorry to post this here chaps as its not directly linked to the topic, but I deliberately didn’t watch F1 last night because I thought i’d be able to catch it up on iplayer, yet I can only get radio commentary.
Why is this? Surely the BBC has the rights to F1 around the world! I don’t want this to become a recurring feature
Ned Flanders said on 26th March 2010, 20:18
They show qualifying + the races on the iplayer, but they don’t put stuff off the red button (like practice sessions) on tinternet
steph said on 26th March 2010, 20:34
For Bahrain I was able to get practice on iPlayer as I was at uni most of the day. maybe it’s changed.
Girish said on 26th March 2010, 11:37
BBC does not have rights around the world. I know this because we (india) watch it on espn.
Richard H said on 26th March 2010, 11:44
If the race is wet, drivers won’t be forced to use different tyre compounds. With the reduction in pit lane speed limit from 100 to 60kph could we see anyone attempting the full distance without pitting? I hope so.
Ned Flanders said on 26th March 2010, 11:53
That could be interesting. I doubt any rain will be heavy enough to cause the whole race to be run on wet tyres, but you never know.
Also, can anyone name the last time a driver finished a race without pitting? If I am not mistaken, it has happened since refuelling was introduced in 1994….
Charles said on 26th March 2010, 12:57
Hi, I think Mika Salo finished in the points at Monaco 1997 without refueling!
Ned Flanders said on 26th March 2010, 14:25
Yep that’s who I was thinking of!
Vikas (below), I imagine everyone had to pit at Sepang at some point. I think Nick Heidelfd was the last driver to go onto wets
Vikas said on 26th March 2010, 12:16
Does last year’s washed out Malaysian GP count??…or did everyone pit then too?
bob said on 26th March 2010, 15:37
strange that ferrari are so slow….
VXR said on 26th March 2010, 20:36
Running with high fuel levels. They’ll be up at the front somewhere in qualifying.